Interesting article below.  One of the reasons scientists are working on enhanced first aid measures is that recent studies suggest less than 15% of people get the compression bandaging wrong! A stunning statistic...and more reason than ever to have your employees trained in the correct first aid procedures.

News in Science

New method of first aid for snakebite

Monday, 27 June 2011Branwen Morgan
ABC

Snakebite victims who apply an ointment to slow down the movement of venom in the body could prolong their survival by up to one and a half times, say Australian researchers.

Snake venom is often made of large toxic molecules that cannot directly enter the bloodstream. Instead, they are dispersed by the lymphatic vessels that run parallel to blood vessels and enter the bloodstream through veins near the heart.

Associate Professor Dirk van Helden of the University of Newcastle describes the lymphatic system as being like "a vacuum cleaner that takes big molecules into circulation."

He and his colleagues were initially looking for ways to improve lymphatic flow when they realised that some snake venoms contain substances that ensure this 'vacuum cleaner' does not become blocked, thus allowing the venom to succeed in its deadly mission.

"Lymph flow is mainly influenced by pumping - like millions of little hearts in series. This is due to smooth muscle contractions in the vessel wall and movement resulting from external compression," he says.

The substances in the snake venom indirectly prevent the release of nitric oxide (NO) that impedes these muscle contractions. This led van Helden to hypothesise that treatment with a topical solution that releases NO, such as one containing glycerol trinitrate (nitroglycerin), will delay the venom's action.

Their results are published today in Nature Medicine.

NO time to wait

To test the treatment, fifteen human volunteers were injected on the top of the foot, with a traceable non-toxic substance that is physically similar to snake venom.

The researchers used a special camera to measure how long it took for the mock venom to travel from the foot to the groin. Then, on a separate occasion, they repeated the experiment with the addition of a 5 centimetre patch of glycerol-nitrate-containing ointment next to the injection site. This was applied within a minute of the injection.

"Transit time to the groin was three-fold greater when we applied the ointment," says van Helden.

The team then used the same methodology to examine the effect of slowing down lymph flow in anaesthetised rats whose hind limbs had been injected with venom from the Eastern brown snake (Pseudonaja textilis).

Transit time of the venom was similarly delayed.

"This doesn't, however, mean you will survive three times longer because the relationship between changes in lymphatic transport time and delays in different venom-induced effects are complex," says van Helden.

But, the rodent experiments did show that respiratory arrest was delayed one and a half times. "This [approach] should give snakebite victims more time to obtain medical care and antivenom treatment," write the researchers.

The results did not seem to be affected by the concentration of a NO-releasing active ingredient nor by a more extensive application over the whole of the rat's foot and leg.

Co-author Professor Geoffrey Isbister says there are approximately 3000 humans with suspected snakebites each year in Australia. "There may be more, but it's always difficult to estimate. [Of these, there are] about 100 to 200 severe envenomings and one to four deaths," he says.

Watch this space

Associate Professor Julian White of the Women's and Children's Hospital in Adelaide believes this new approach may be a useful adjunct to existing treatments, which include immobilisation and pressure bandages. He says that it needs further evaluation and validation before it can be recommended.

"The problem with all first aid treatments is that it is very hard to properly test to see whether the treatments work in real cases ... and with snakebites you don't have lots of patients presenting in a controlled setting," says White.

"[But] looking for new methods to make things better is a very worthwhile enterprise ... from my point of view, as a clinical toxicologist, I'd be saying to people watch this space keenly."

Jai Hawkins was lucky not to be bitten by a funnel web spider (above) found in his cubby house .

The image shown is of a female mouse spider - not a funnel web as the article suggests - it looks like snakes are not the only ones being flushed out by the rising waters! The correct first aid treatment for funnel web and mouse spider bites is as per snakes, apply a firm compression bandage and keep the victim immobilised. Want to learn more?  Book one of our unique SSSAFE training seminars! 

Article below appeared in The Gympie Times
Jan 12 2011

GYMPIE youngster Jai Hawkins is on the lookout for spiders and other creepy crawlies coming out of floodwaters, following the discovery of a large male funnel web in his cubby house.

It was show-and-tell time yesterday but the situation was nearly a lot worse for the curious six-year-old and his parents.

Dan Hawkins said his son found something that looked like a cocoon under the cubby house stairs at their Parsons Road property.

“He was playing with it – poking at it with his fingers to try and get (the creature) out,” he said. “I took it off him and could see there was something inside that looked like the back of a spider. When I broke (the web) open the funnel web reared up its fangs to attack.”

Jai now knows there are deadly surprises hiding in his yard and he’s not to touch without Dad’s permission.

“It was in this little cocoon…a deadly, poisonous and dangerous spider,” he said.

“Next time I will go to tell Dad and say ‘look at this’ first.”

It’s not unusual the deadly critters are on the march in the suburbs. Summer temperatures and recent rain and flooding has brought funnel webs out and it is expected they will be active until at least March.

This is the second confirmed sighting in Gympie in as many weeks - the first was found crawling on the front porch of a Bent Street house.